Their next two meetings at the pool followed the same pattern as the first. By that Sunday, their feet and legs would gently brush together as they shared the float. They talked about everything from childhood memories to teenage antics to how their day went. They laughed together, grew quiet together as they remembered the lives lost in the Delta Quadrant, exchanged shy looks when they talked about first loves, and held each other's gaze when he gently swept a lock of her hair from her face. When he kissed her cheek that Sunday as they parted close to midnight, she held her hand to that place where his lips had been and smiled when she got in her hovercar.

Kathryn was ten minutes late on Tuesday, and when she entered the pool room, Chakotay could tell she'd had a rough time of it. "Hello. Bad day?" he asked as she dropped into the water.

She leaned back against the wall of the pool and rubbed her hand down her jaw. "I spent six hours in meetings today, and I swear nothing was accomplished. It was frustrating, to say the least. I'm not used to indecision and beating around the bush. A Vulcan poetry reading would have been preferable to the last two hours of that meeting." He watched as she rubbed her neck and tilted her head.

"Here, let me help." He clasped her arms and turned her back to him, then laid his hands over her shoulders and smoothed his thumbs up each side of her neck.

"Oh, that feels good," she sighed.

"You're so tense I can feel the knots. I'm guessing you have a headache, too."

"A little."

He leaned against the pool edge and pulled her to him. "Come here. Just relax"

She let her back rest against his torso and her head fall forward as his fingers kneaded the muscles of her neck and shoulders. He felt her tension begin to ease after a few minutes and slid his hands under her hair as he gently massaged her scalp.

"You should be a masseuse when you get tired of teaching," she mumbled.

He chuckled and combed his fingers through her hair before returning to her shoulders. Her weight settled more firmly against him and her head dropped back to his chest. He continued to massage her for a few moments, then lightly ran his fingers over her temples and forehead. He looked down at her and pressed his lips to her cheek.

"How does that feel?" he asked, his breath tickling her ear.

"Mmm, much better. Thank you." She turned her head to him, his full lips just inches from hers. When was the last time she allowed her eyes to trace the cupid's bow of his top lip? She followed the lines before tilting her head to find his gaze. His dark chocolate eyes searched her blues, and then began to blur as his head lowered. His lips brushed hers softly, questioning, and she rose on her tiptoes to press into him.

His strong arms gathered her to him as their lips and tongues nibbled, explored and tasted. She turned her body to him and caressed his biceps as his hands splayed across her back. She ended the kiss, and they searched each other's eyes once again, finding desires long buried now rising to the surface. She laid her head on his shoulder and he rested his cheek against her hair, his warmth and tenderness chasing away the last of her frustrations of the day.

They stood quietly holding each other, each of them sifting through emotions of longing and completion, but also of uncertainty. Kathryn remembered the touches and looks they had shared in the past, those gestures that seemed so small but spoke of so much between them. She needed to know if she could finally drop the barriers she had built against him, and if he was willing to let her in.

She raised her head and sought his lips again, her tongue circling his mouth before slipping inside to find his. He willingly met her, their tongues dancing together as his hand caressed her cheek before slipping under her ear to the nape of her neck. She surprised herself with a soft moan, and when he answered in kind she leaned further into him. Her hands gripped his shoulders, and his arm around her slipped to the small of her back. She could feel him semi-erect against her stomach. Her body tingled and took her breath away, and she finally pulled back from the kiss to gasp for air.

His gaze dropped to her breasts, and she realized her hard nipples were outlined against the material of her swim suit. He watched a pink blush rise over her chest and neck, and caressed her cheek before pulling her head down to rest on his shoulder. Chakotay could feel her heart beating against his and wondered if she could feel the flutter tickling his insides.

His voice was soft in her ear. "Kathryn, is this what you want? Do you want to be with me?"

She was silent for a moment before replying, "I do, Chakotay, if that's something that you want, too."

"This last week with you has been wonderful."

"For me, too. I don't want to be alone anymore."

He swept her hair back and kissed the side of her neck, gentle pecks turning to nips. The tip of his tongue darted against the sensitive point under her ear, and she turned her face into his chest with a gasp. She tasted his skin, slid her hand across his muscles, and trailed her fingertips over his collar bone. His hand on her lower back pulled her hips to his, while his other hand grazed her side and his thumb circled over the side of her breast. He kissed her jaw and cheek until she turned her lips to his again and their tongues met. She could feel him growing harder against her as her body was beginning its own throbbing, and suddenly he broke the kiss and gently pushed her hips away from his.

"Kathryn," he said, his voice breathy. "I don't want to rush this or push something we're not ready for."

She took his hands in hers and said, "Neither do I. We've spent almost eight years together, but this is new for us. It's new for me, to let myself feel everything."

"And for me. Please don't think that I don't want you. Nothing is further from the truth, which is why I'm pulling away now while I still can."

"I know, Chakotay. It's alright. I wasn't really up for working out tonight, not after the day I've had. I think I'll go home and get some rest, and I'll see you on Thursday."

"I'll be here."

She climbed out of the pool and took her bag into the locker room to change. She could hear him swimming laps, and dressed quickly before she lost her resolve. When she was ready to leave, she knelt by the edge of the pool, and he swam to her. She leaned over him and kissed him one more time, her hand gripping the back of his wet hair. She eased away from him, and he said, "Have dinner with me tomorrow tonight."

She smiled softly. "I would like that."

"About 1900 hours? I'll pick you up."

"I'll be ready. Goodnight, Chakotay."

"Goodnight Kathryn. Sleep well."

She heard him making another lap of the pool as she exited the room. She walked slowly, not wanting to leave but feeling it was the right thing to do. She was deep in thought as she left through the Training Gym doors and headed to her car. A few steps from the car, she realized the night air was cool and she didn't have on her sweater. It wasn't in her bag, so she must have left it inside. She put the bag in the front seat and returned to gym.

She re-entered the pool area to retrieve her sweater from the locker room. The shower was running in the men's room, and she heard a groan. She stopped to listen, and at another low moan that sounded like "Kathryn," she grew concerned that something was wrong with Chakotay. She rounded the corner into the men's room and saw him standing naked in the shower stall, the sight of his nude body under the cascading water freezing her in place. When her gaze dropped low enough, she watched his soapy fingers slide around his erection and caress up and down the hard length. Instant heat licked through her body and moisture pooled between her legs.

She watched his thumb circle over the head and his fingers slip along the underside of his shaft. His hips thrust forward, and his hand closed around the base. He was pumping harder now, his head leaned back and eyes closed, chest rising and falling with deep breaths and soft moans. His other hand cupped his sac, and the engorged head of his shaft glistened. She thought she could come just watching him, without being touched. His hand slid faster from base to tip of his hard sex, his stomach muscles clenched, and she knew he was close. She couldn't stop watching. He groaned again, and then she heard, "I love you, Kathryn. I love you." His hips bucked harder, his mouth opened with a sharp grunt, and her core throbbed as she watched his legs tremble and his seed spurt over his hand.

Every nerve in her body was alive with want of him, but she was afraid that if he found out she had just watched him masturbate with her name on his lips, he would be embarrassed and angry with her. She forced herself to quietly back out of the room and leave the gym, not caring that she forgot her sweater a second time. At home in bed that night, she brought herself to orgasm twice before whispering, "I love you, too, Chakotay," and finally slipping into dreams of him.